Spoiler: Tissues are an absolute must in order to watch A Dog’s Journey.
A Dog’s Journey is the sequel to A Dog’s Purpose, which came out in 2017. A Dog’s Purpose follows the dog Bailey (voice of Josh Gad), who tries to find out what his purpose is in his multiple lives as many different dogs.
In his first life, Bailey comes across a little boy named Ethan (Bryce Gheisar) and his mother (Juliet Rylance) when they save him from a near-death experience. Unfortunately, dog lives are only a portion of a human’s life. Throughout the rest of the movie, Bailey also known to others as Ellie, Tino, and Buddy, tries to find his purpose in the world and tries to find his beloved and favorite owner, Ethan. Sophomore Nesya Weinsweig said, “I was really happy when I found out they were creating A Dog’s Journey because I loved A Dog’s Purpose. Although it is really sad it is one of my favorite movies to watch on a rainy day.”
A Dog’s Journey picks back up with Bailey, still with Ethan and his wife, Hannah (Marg Helgenberger). The three of them are living with Hannah’s daughter in law, Gloria (Betty Gilpin) and her baby Clarity June, CJ (Kathryn Prescott). Hannah’s son and Gloria’s husband died while Gloria was still pregnant with CJ. When she first went to Hannah and Ethan’s farm, she instantly disliked Bailey. Also while on the farm, many incidents occur where CJ is almost endangered due to Gloria’s negligence but Bailey saves her. Hannah suggests that Gloria should leave CJ with her and Ethan so she can pursue her music career. This remark enrages Gloria and she moves away with CJ.
Shortly after Hannah and Ethan lose CJ, they notice Bailey isn’t doing so well. They take him to the doctor and find out that he had cancer. All they can do is make him comfortable. A few days later, before Bailey is put down, Ethan whispers to Bailey that he should take care and protect CJ instead of him. Bailey now had a new purpose.
Bailey now comes back as Mollie. Mollie finds CJ when her best friend, Trent (Henry Lau) adopts Mollie’s brother, Rocky. Mollie’s sole purpose in life is to protect CJ. When CJ has to do community service at a center where they teach dogs to sniff out cancer, she brings Mollie, who teaches herself that if she sniffs out the cancer, she will get a treat. Mollie uses this skill in one of her later lives in order to save someone CJ cares about.
A Dog’s Journey is more than just a dog who wants to protect their owner. It highlights the importance of trust, friendship, unconditional love and how much dogs are better than cats.
